How to Spend Half a Million Dollars on a Motorcycle – The Dodge Tomahawk V10 Superbike

If you just happened to win the lottery and you have a burning desire to buy a motorcycle, a motorcycle that you can’t legally ride on the road, then have we got the machine for you…

The Tomahawk, based on the Dodge Viper V-10, cranks out 500 horsepower and delivers all that juice to, not two, but four wheels.

Chrysler has already sold nine ‘replicas’ (through upscale department store Neiman Marcus), for $555,000 each, and it’s a pretty good bet those sales didn’t go all the way to recovering the development and production costs of these behemoths.

A spokesperson for Chrysler told the Reuters news agency that the ‘bikes,’ and we use the term loosely here as they do have four wheels, were meant as “rolling sculptures.” That probably at the behest of the Chrysler team of lawyers and meant to avoid the inevitable legal issues sure to arise the first time someone lays one down in the parking lot a the Dew Drop Inn.

Utilizing rear wheel drive, the Tomahawk features monocoque construction of which the powerplant provides support as a stressed member. If that’s not cutting edge enough for you, the entire body of the bike is ground out of billet aluminum to save weight.

The man responsible for this piece of art, Wolfgang Bernhard, was Chrysler’s head honcho and hoped to undertake a production run of the bikes in the hundreds at a price just under $200,000 per machine. According to insiders, Chrysler spent more than $100,000 to build on outsourcing to build each bike, and that price doesn’t factor in the associated costs of engineering.

So what would you get for your half million? The Dodge Tomahawk can reportedly make 0-60 times of around 2.5 seconds. The reported theoretical top speed, 400 mph, is probably more fiction than fact.

With each pair of wheels separated by mere inches and boasting independent suspension, the Tomahawk is a clear re-think of the motorcycle from top to bottom. According to Chrysler, the four-wheel configuration was needed to handle the awesome power generated by the V-10 engine.

At least legally, the Tomahawk isn’t a motorcycle at all. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration dictates that a “motorcycle” must have no more that 3 wheels on the ground during normal operation, and that let’s this super-machine out.

Aside from being entirely illegal to ride on the roads, we imagine the Tomahawk’s 3.25-gallon tank might prove wholly inadequate for even short runs to the grocery store. We’re guessing that three-plus gallons would disappear in about 15 miles of “hard riding.”

• 500 bhp  @ 5600 rpm ; 525 lb.-ft. @ 4200 rpm
• 10-cylinder 90-degree V-type, liquid-cooled, 505 cubic inches (That’s more than 8000 cc, folks)
• 356-T6 aluminum alloy block
• Bore x Stroke: 4.03 inches x 3.96 inches (102.4 x 100.6)
• Two push rod-actuated overhead valves per cylinder
• Roller-type hydraulic lifters
• Sequential fuel injection
• Compression Ratio: 9.6:1
• 6000 rpm
•  Unleaded gasoline, 93 octane (R+M/2)
• Dry sump oil system holding 8 quarts
• Cooled by twin aluminum radiators mounted atop engine the intake manifolds, force-fed from front-mounted, belt-driven turbine fan. The cooling system holds 11 quarts of antifreeze.
• Exhaust is handled through  tubular stainless steel headers with dual collectors

Length: 102” • Width: 27.7” • Height: 36.9”
Wheelbase: 76”
Seat Height: 29”
Weight: 1,500 lb • Weight Dist: 49F/51R
Fuel: 3.25 gal

Transmission

Manual, foot-shifted, aluminum-cased two-speed, sequential racing-style with dog ring, straight-cut gears
Gear Ratios: 1st 18:38; 2nd 23:25
Clutch: Double-disc, dry-plate with organic friction materials, hand lever actuated with assist
Final drive: Dual 110-link motorcycle-style chains

Front suspension

Outboard, single-sided parallel upper and lower control arms made from polished billet aluminum. Mounted via ball joint to aluminum steering uprights and hubs. Five degrees caster. Single, adjustable centrally located coil-over damper (2.25-inch coil with adjustable spring perch); pull rod and rocker-actuated mono linkage. Center-lock racing-style hubs.
Rear suspension: Hand-fabricated box-section steel inboard swing arms, incorporating hydral-link lockable recirculating hydraulic circuit parking stand. Single adjustable Koni coil-over damper (2.25-inch coil with adjustable spring perch); push rod and rocker-actuated mono linkage. Center-lock racing-style hubs

Front brakes

20-inch perimeter-mounted machined stainless steel rotors. Two four-piston fixed aluminum calipers per wheel. Hand-activated.

Rear brakes

20-inch, perimeter-mounted cast-iron rotors. Four-piston fixed aluminum caliper on each wheel. Foot-activated.

Tires and wheels

Billet aluminum discs, asymmetrical, twin 20×4 front, twin 20×5 rear, with custom made Dunlop symmetrical tires (P120/60R20 front, P150/50R20 rear).